“I’m not a big social media guy, but I got told today about E.J. Price hitting me, which is funny. I wouldn’t be here; I’d be dead, one,” Helton said. “May make my face look better, but when it comes to E.J. — I know a lot of times when a guy doesn’t show up on the field there’s questions.

“I talked to E.J. a couple days ago. E.J. has some personal family issues that are going on — a lot of homesickness and missing family really bad. With us sitting down and visiting, really felt, mutually, that it was important for him to go find a school that is closer to home, where he can deal with his family.”

Price’s departure is the latest bit of bad news for the struggling Trojans. The four-star lineman was a prized recruit who chose USC over Georgia. Helton’s team is 1-2 on the year and has looked painfully overmatched against both Alabama and Stanford. The schedule doesn’t get much easier the rest of the way with trips to Utah, Washington and UCLA and visits by Oregon and Notre Dame.